CHAP. XLII. ROSA^CEIE. 7^'RUS. 919 



place where I have nailed them. My poor cow will get better in spite of her* 

 Alas! thought I to myself, as the deluded man was finishing his story, how 

 much there is yet to be done in our part of the country by the schoolmaster 

 of the nineteenth century." 



(iilpin mentions, in his Forest Scenery, that often, in his time, a stump 

 of the mountain ash was found in some old burying-plaee, or near the 

 circle of a druid's temple, the rites of which were formerly performed 

 under its shade. On this passage Sir Thomas Dick Lauder observes 

 that " a branch of the roan tree is still considered good against evil 

 influences in the Highlands of Scotland, and in Wales, where it is often hung 

 up over doorways, and in stables and cow-houses, to neutralise the wicked 

 spells of witches and warlocks." (Lander's Gilpin, vol. i. p. 89.) We have 

 already noticed the custom mentioned by Evelyn, of planting this tree in 

 churchyards in Wales ; and he adds that " it is reputed to be a preservative 

 against fascination and evil spirits ; whence, perhaps, we call it witchen, the 

 boughs being stuck about the house, or used for walking-staffs." In the 

 Sylvan Sketches of Miss Kent, the following remarks are quoted on this 

 passage : " In former times, this tree was supposed to be possessed of the 

 property of driving away witches and evil spirits; and this property is 

 recorded in one of the stanzas of a very ancient song, called The Laidley 

 Worm of Spindleston Hcughs : 



' Their spells were vain ; the boys return M 



To the queen in sorrowful mood, 



Crying that " witches have no power 



Where there is roan-tree wood." ' 



The last line of this stanza leads to the true reading of a line in Shakspeare's 

 tragedy of Macbeth. The sailor's wife, on the witch's requesting some 

 chestnuts, hastily answers, * A rown tree, witch ! ' but all the editions have it 

 * Aroint thee, witch ! ' which is nonsense, and evidently a corruption." 

 (p. 251.) This reading, however, is not new, as it has been given by several 

 of the commentators on Shakspeare. " Hone, in his Religious Mysteries, 

 gives a fac-simile of an old drawing, called the Descent into Hell, in which 

 Our Saviour is represented with a roan tree cross in his left hand, while 

 with the right he appears to draw a contrite spirit from the jaws of Hell.' 



Mimosa, with leaves, at a little distance, so much resembling those of the 

 mountain ash, that I was for a moment deceived, and asked if it did not bring 

 fruit ? They answered no ; but that it was a very noble tree, being called 

 * the imperial tree,' for its excellent properties : that it slept all night, and 

 wakenetl, and was alive all day, withdrawing its leaves if any one attempted 

 to touch them. Above all, however, it was useful as a preservative against 

 magic ; a sprig worn in the turban, or suspended over the bed, was a perfect 

 security against all spells, the evil eye, &c., insomuch as the most formidable 

 wizard would not, if he could help it, approach its shade. One, indeed, they 

 said, who was very renowned for his power (like Loorinite in the Kchama) of 

 killing plants, and drying up their sap with a look, had come to this very tree 

 and gazed on it intently : ' but,' said the old man who told me this, with an 

 air of triumph, * look as he might, he could do the tree no harm ;' a fact of 

 which I make no question. I was amused and surprised to find the super- 

 stition, which in England and Scotland attaches to the rowan tree, here 

 applied to a tree of similar form. Which nation has been, in this case, the 

 imitator ; or from what common centre are all these notions derived ?" 



Soil and Situation. The mountain ash will grow in any soil, and in the 

 most exposed situations, as it is found on the sea shore, and on the tops of 



